This invention relates to securing electrical connectors to a circuit board and in particular to a boardlock for temporarily securing a connector to a circuit board prior to soldering.
Electrical connectors are often secured to a circuit board during a board stuffing operation by a boardlock that temporarily holds the connector is the desired position until more permanently secured in a soldering process. In the soldering process, the contact of surface mount connectors are soldered to land on the circuit board whereas the contacts of through hole mount connectors are soldered in plated through holes. These solder connections more permanently secured the connector in position on the circuit board, with the board lock, when soldered, also contributing to the more permanent retention of the connector on the board. In addition to providing retention on a board, a board lock may provide a secondary function of an electrical path to a ground on the circuit board from the shell of a shielded connector.
Most prior art boardlock such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,717,219 and 4,842,552 provide a one-piece boardlock that engages a portion of the shielding shell of a connector and extends to beyond the mounting face of the connector, to be soldered to a ground on the circuit board.